"The
No. 1 thing you have to be aware of when you're playing Alabama is the
turnover ratio," he said Monday, looking ahead to a 7:30 p.m. CDT showdown Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium. "You've got to take care of the football."

Mississippi
State (7-0, 3-0 SEC) leads the nation in turnover margin (+17, or 2.43 per game). The Bulldogs
have given the ball away only four times (three fumbles, one
interception). They have 21 takeaways (12 interceptions, nine fumble
recoveries).

Alabama (7-0, 4-0) ranks third in the nation in turnover
margin (+14, or 2.0 per game). It has 20 takeaways (13 interceptions,
seven fumble recoveries). It has given the ball away only six times (all
fumbles).

The Crimson Tide has converted those 20 takeaways into 15 scores - all touchdowns. It has scored 11
touchdowns off of 13 interceptions.

"They're an opportunistic offense, a lot like ourselves," Koenning
said. "With turnovers, it's a lot easier to get in the end zone."

Turnovers will be one of three keys to winning the game, Koenning said.

"This
will be one of those patented games that we have in the SEC," he said.
"Field position will be a must. Third-down conversions will be a must
and taking care of the ball will be a must."

Alabama's top-ranked defense will be a supreme test for a Mississippi State offense that has shown good balance this season.

"They can run," Koenning said. "Really good secondary. Really good front and
linebackers. Don't necessarily overload the box all the time. They feel
like they can play with six in the box and stop them, and they have
proven that."

The Crimson Tide has some new faces on its defense this season, but the results haven't changed much compared to the star-studded defense that led Alabama to the 2011 national championship, Koenning agreed."Fundamentally,
they're really, really sound," he said. "When you watch them, with leverage and
what they try to do defensively, they do a really, really nice job."

Koenning should be a familiar name to Alabama football fans.

He was the Crimson Tide's offensive coordinator for two seasons (2001-02), during the almost-forgotten Dennis Franchione years.

Koenning served with Franchione at TCU in 2000 and at Texas A&M from 2003-07. He was the offensive coordinator at South Alabama from 2008-09.

Now he's in his fourth season as the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Mississippi State.

The Bulldogs are averaging 180.4 yards per game rushing and 236.4 yards per game passing. Junior LaDarius Perkins leads the SEC in rushing with an average of 103.4 yards per game. Tyler Russell ranks fifth in the league in passing with an average of 224.7 yards per game -- 14 more than Alabama's AJ McCarron.

Mississippi State is coming off a 45-3 victory over Middle Tennessee. The Bulldogs led only 10-3 at halftime.

"I liked what I saw," Koenning said of the offense. "It was good in the second half."

He noted that the Bulldogs punted only once, on their last possession.

"We just fumbled around, didn't quite hit on all cylinders," he said. "Got down to the red zone and then had a couple of stumbles there but came back in the second half and got after it. I think the kids were a lot more focused. They understood what they had to do."